Arjen Robben achieved legendary status at Chelsea and thrilled crowds at Stamford Bridge – but his time in the Premier League could have been very different.
Robben, 40, was also courted by Manchester United when he was still at Dutch giants PSV in 2004. However, after rocking up at the Red Devils’ training ground Carrington, Robben decided to join the London side.
Rio Ferdinand recalled why in an extraordinary tale on an Instagram Live in 2021, when he was asked who was better between Robben and his former United team-mate, the Welsh wing wizard Ryan Giggs. He said: “I’d have to go for Giggsy, you know.
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“Robben was nasty though, ooh Robben, you knew he was going to come back in on his left foot but the left-back couldn’t deal with it. He was saying ‘I’m going to come in on my left, you’re not going to stop me’ – and they didn’t. What a player, Robben was great.
“We should have signed him at United. I think he came to the training ground, he walked around and didn’t like the smell and walked off and went Chelsea.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Couldn’t believe it man. He would have been great for us. But Giggsy was an unbelievable footballer, left wing, into centre midfield by the end of his career.”
Robben has already spoken out on his failed move to United, admitting he had dinner with then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson. “I had a very good conversation with him [Ferguson] over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life,” Robben told FourFourTwo magazine.
“I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good, but after I went back to PSV nothing happened.”
Robben was an instant hit at Stamford Bridge , where he won two Premier League trophies, two League Cups and the FA Cup. After an injury-ravaged season, Real Madrid came to sign him in 2007 but he only had one year in La Liga before joining Bayern Munich.
It is at the Bundesliga outfit where Robben is most adored, scoring 144 goals in 309 appearances for the German giants.